Hagiography: the Left on Obama, the Right on Palin
(Greg A. & Ben Kauffman)
hag·i·og·ra·phy:the writing and critical study of the lives of the saints.
Only first characterized in 1700’s French parliament, the right and left wings of the political spectrum have always had a strong influence on the citizens and their stance on politics. Many find their niche within the spectrum by allinging themselves with others who share similar ideals and moral values. Once they are comfortable with the decisions that their niche's political figures are making, they tend to be biased in favor of their niche's leader's judgement and overly critical of the opposing view. This is similar to way that one would find a referee fair if that person's team is winning and unfair if the opposing team is winning. Additionally, this person is biased toward agreeing with those who he or she have been loyal to in the past, or their "team." Where the “team”, in a political sense of the word, lies on the political spectrum is Hagiography. Similar to where countries and borders are in geography, Hagiography is where people and their opinions lie on the political spectrum, left wing/right wing, and thus how they are biased towards news and other media.
Bias on the Left...
"In a way Obama is standing above the country, above the world. He's sort of God. He's going to bring all different sides together."
-Newsweekeditor Evan Thomas
http://obamamessiah.blogspot.com/
Divine. Holy. Godly. These thee words express how the artist is depicting Obama. The bright light behind is head can be interpreted as many things, most of which reference a messiah. It can be interpreted as a halo, the light of God shining upon his golden face, or simply the powerful light that Obama emits himself. Either way, this poster portrays Obama as a powerful (and even religious) figure, backed by God.
CNN expresses much bias; however, the bias is often bolstering the left wing. During the primaries of 2007, it was reported that 41% of CNN stories were negative versus the Republican Party, just 14% positive, and the rest neutral. This bias is unhealthy, it does not represent a clear view of both sides of the issue. The video above is a prime example to express this. The reporter is in the middle of a Tea Party Protest (Basically an anti-tax movement), and near the end of her clip, she states that the protesters are “Anti-government, anti-CNN, and highly promoted by the right wing conservative network Fox.” The reporter, Susan Roesgen, feels so strongly on the importance of taxation that she disregards the opinions of her political foes. This is clearly stating dislike for right wing conservatives, it is sneaky to place terms like "anti-government" on people who have the right to protest. Because this video is dehumanizing the protesters, it is openly supporting the left wing values that CNN tends to stick to.
There is nothing really wrong with this video, but there are a couple of things that should be pointed out. First of all, this video is taking children, who, at this time in there lives, most likely do not form their political opinions form their own ideals, but rather from parents or loved ones. They are praising president Obama in the things that he does, rather than what he does as a political leader. They state that they will "study very hard, just like Barack," or "set [their] goals high, and graduate." So, Obama must be a great person if he influences children to work hard, right? Furthermore, this video makes references to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This is praising Obama further, expressing that because Obama is the first African American president, he will bring about change and hope. These dancing, laughing, singing, and smiling children have a fairly positive impact on the average viewer, and thats what this video is intended to do. It is things such as these that cause people like Bernard Goldberg to say "[reporters] crossed the line from media bias to Media activism...because they thought the cause was worth it."
"Our goal is to see... [people]holding their hands above their heads, fingers laced together in support of a new direction for this country, a renewed hope, and acceptance of responsibility for our future" -Rick Husong, owner of The Loyalty Inc.
"Lets try and start a movement where even while walking down the street, people would hold up the O and you would know that they were for Obama."
- One Nation, Under a New Obama SaluteU.S. News and World Report's "Washington Whispers". August 7, 2008.
This hand signal is a tiny bit scary. It has the greatest of intentions, but it sounds very similar to the "Hail Hitler!" hand motion.
In Conclusion for Obama, there are many people throughout the world who treat him as their hero, or even to the extent of their messiah. They act like this not because they hate the opposing political views, but because they love Obama's ideals with all of their heart. They have hope, and that is a good thing, but when this hope turns into divine belief or disregard for his actual political views, it becomes a problem.
Sarah Palin is depicted heroically in the photo above in an effort to advertise her run for the 2010 presidency. She looks confidently at an angle slightly upwards showing her strength and poise. Her head mirrors the direction that lady liberty’s head faces implying that she stands for the same American values that lady liberty stands for and that she may be as important to the American public as the statue. There are stars and stripes surrounding her as the picture portrays her as though she is not just a symbol but the symbol of America. Below her, a hopeful line is written quoted as said by Ronald Regan, a man who greatly appeals to right wing ethos. The picture essentially screams right wing propaganda and bias. Palin paid someone a large amount of money to come up with a picture of such great bias. This does its best to portray Palin as great.
Fox News, famous for its right wing bias, is an excellent example of hagiography. It is difficult to see how it is considered a news station because so much of its programming is opinion commentary from their “unbiased” experts. Such “unbiased” commentary includes Bill O’reilly stating, “I just feel that Hillary is a socialist, and I'm paying enough tax. Hillary wants to take my money.” Despite the fact that the profound bias is almost comedic, they continue to represent themselves with the slogan “fair and balanced.” For naive viewers unable to detect the bias, this slogan makes it seem as though Fox is a reliable source of factual news. Another example of such bias is how in an interview with John Mccain, Glenn Beck, fox news correspondant, said, "I thank you for being on the right side of this issue in the past with Community Reinvestment Act." He followed up by saying in agreement with John Mccain that "our country has been hijacked by socialists." The use of the term hijack is a form of propoganda. The word has a symbolic meaning to it with the recent "war on terror" and the statement reaches the pathos of the viewer despite the fact the left wing side are not socialist terrorists. In general, Fox news has a major right wing bias.
from polemical sources in hagiography and kings of media bias, Jon Stewart and Bill O'Reilly battle it out in this fascinating interview above
The Internet is full of many strange sites full of overly zealous material. Most commonly, there are hate sites like Obamathedevil.com, which in support of their point cite promises that he was unable to keep provided by none other than Fox News. Although, what I didn’t expect to find was a site that suggested material that you would self-censor if you didn’t want to see liberal ideas and morals. The title of this site is “Boycott Liberalism.” A couple of examples of things that it wants people to “boycott” are “Death at a Funeral” and “Kick-Ass.” It also stressed the matter of boycotting Heinz ketchup because of John Kerry’s relation to it. Moreover, Anyone that seems to feel strongly toward one side of the political spectrum typically feels that they are on the logical side, so they try to tarnish the opposing side instead of distributing positive information of their own side. The people who post sites like this are the guerrilla propagandists who use fear, generalizations, and name calling to convey their own point.
from http://observers.france24.com/files/images/obama-demon2t.jpg
Hagiography: the Left on Obama, the Right on Palin
(Greg A. & Ben Kauffman)
hag·i·og·ra·phy: the writing and critical study of the lives of the saints.Only first characterized in 1700’s French parliament, the right and left wings of the political spectrum have always had a strong influence on the citizens and their stance on politics. Many find their niche within the spectrum by allinging themselves with others who share similar ideals and moral values. Once they are comfortable with the decisions that their niche's political figures are making, they tend to be biased in favor of their niche's leader's judgement and overly critical of the opposing view. This is similar to way that one would find a referee fair if that person's team is winning and unfair if the opposing team is winning. Additionally, this person is biased toward agreeing with those who he or she have been loyal to in the past, or their "team." Where the “team”, in a political sense of the word, lies on the political spectrum is Hagiography. Similar to where countries and borders are in geography, Hagiography is where people and their opinions lie on the political spectrum, left wing/right wing, and thus how they are biased towards news and other media.
Bias on the Left...
"In a way Obama is standing above the country, above the world. He's sort of God. He's going to bring all different sides together."
- Newsweek editor Evan Thomas
CNN expresses much bias; however, the bias is often bolstering the left wing. During the primaries of 2007, it was reported that 41% of CNN stories were negative versus the Republican Party, just 14% positive, and the rest neutral. This bias is unhealthy, it does not represent a clear view of both sides of the issue. The video above is a prime example to express this. The reporter is in the middle of a Tea Party Protest (Basically an anti-tax movement), and near the end of her clip, she states that the protesters are “Anti-government, anti-CNN, and highly promoted by the right wing conservative network Fox.” The reporter, Susan Roesgen, feels so strongly on the importance of taxation that she disregards the opinions of her political foes. This is clearly stating dislike for right wing conservatives, it is sneaky to place terms like "anti-government" on people who have the right to protest. Because this video is dehumanizing the protesters, it is openly supporting the left wing values that CNN tends to stick to.
There is nothing really wrong with this video, but there are a couple of things that should be pointed out. First of all, this video is taking children, who, at this time in there lives, most likely do not form their political opinions form their own ideals, but rather from parents or loved ones. They are praising president Obama in the things that he does, rather than what he does as a political leader. They state that they will "study very hard, just like Barack," or "set [their] goals high, and graduate." So, Obama must be a great person if he influences children to work hard, right? Furthermore, this video makes references to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This is praising Obama further, expressing that because Obama is the first African American president, he will bring about change and hope. These dancing, laughing, singing, and smiling children have a fairly positive impact on the average viewer, and thats what this video is intended to do. It is things such as these that cause people like Bernard Goldberg to say "[reporters] crossed the line from media bias to Media activism...because they thought the cause was worth it."
"Our goal is to see... [people] holding their hands above their heads, fingers laced together in support of a new direction for this country, a renewed hope, and acceptance of responsibility for our future"
- Rick Husong, owner of The Loyalty Inc.
"Lets try and start a movement where even while walking down the street, people would hold up the O and you would know that they were for Obama."
- One Nation, Under a New Obama Salute U.S. News and World Report's "Washington Whispers". August 7, 2008.
This hand signal is a tiny bit scary. It has the greatest of intentions, but it sounds very similar to the "Hail Hitler!" hand motion.
In Conclusion for Obama, there are many people throughout the world who treat him as their hero, or even to the extent of their messiah. They act like this not because they hate the opposing political views, but because they love Obama's ideals with all of their heart. They have hope, and that is a good thing, but when this hope turns into divine belief or disregard for his actual political views, it becomes a problem.
Bias On the Right...
Sarah Palin is depicted heroically in the photo above in an effort to advertise her run for the 2010 presidency. She looks confidently at an angle slightly upwards showing her strength and poise. Her head mirrors the direction that lady liberty’s head faces implying that she stands for the same American values that lady liberty stands for and that she may be as important to the American public as the statue. There are stars and stripes surrounding her as the picture portrays her as though she is not just a symbol but the symbol of America. Below her, a hopeful line is written quoted as said by Ronald Regan, a man who greatly appeals to right wing ethos. The picture essentially screams right wing propaganda and bias. Palin paid someone a large amount of money to come up with a picture of such great bias. This does its best to portray Palin as great.
Fox News, famous for its right wing bias, is an excellent example of hagiography. It is difficult to see how it is considered a news station because so much of its programming is opinion commentary from their “unbiased” experts. Such “unbiased” commentary includes Bill O’reilly stating, “I just feel that Hillary is a socialist, and I'm paying enough tax. Hillary wants to take my money.” Despite the fact that the profound bias is almost comedic, they continue to represent themselves with the slogan “fair and balanced.” For naive viewers unable to detect the bias, this slogan makes it seem as though Fox is a reliable source of factual news. Another example of such bias is how in an interview with John Mccain, Glenn Beck, fox news correspondant, said, "I thank you for being on the right side of this issue in the past with Community Reinvestment Act." He followed up by saying in agreement with John Mccain that "our country has been hijacked by socialists." The use of the term hijack is a form of propoganda. The word has a symbolic meaning to it with the recent "war on terror" and the statement reaches the pathos of the viewer despite the fact the left wing side are not socialist terrorists. In general, Fox news has a major right wing bias.
from polemical sources in hagiography and kings of media bias, Jon Stewart and Bill O'Reilly battle it out in this fascinating interview above
The Internet is full of many strange sites full of overly zealous material. Most commonly, there are hate sites like Obamathedevil.com, which in support of their point cite promises that he was unable to keep provided by none other than Fox News. Although, what I didn’t expect to find was a site that suggested material that you would self-censor if you didn’t want to see liberal ideas and morals. The title of this site is “Boycott Liberalism.” A couple of examples of things that it wants people to “boycott” are “Death at a Funeral” and “Kick-Ass.” It also stressed the matter of boycotting Heinz ketchup because of John Kerry’s relation to it. Moreover, Anyone that seems to feel strongly toward one side of the political spectrum typically feels that they are on the logical side, so they try to tarnish the opposing side instead of distributing positive information of their own side. The people who post sites like this are the guerrilla propagandists who use fear, generalizations, and name calling to convey their own point.
from http://observers.france24.com/files/images/obama-demon2t.jpg
Sources:
Bedard, Paul. "One Nation, Under A New Obama Salute". U.S. News and World Report. April 25, 2010 <http://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers/2008/08/07/one-nation-under-a-new-obama-salute.html>.
"Bill O'Reilly on "The View" Calls Senator Obama a "Communist" - Associated Content - associatedcontent.com." Associated Content - associatedcontent.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2010. <http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1139038/bill_oreilly_on_the_view_calls_senator.html>.
"BoycottLiberalism." Things to Avoid. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2010. <http://www.boycottliberalism.com
"Glenn Beck - Interviews - Glenn talks with the Maverick." Glenn Beck Program. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2010. <http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/196/16766/>.
"Is Barack Obama the Messiah?". Blogspot. April 25, 2010 <http://obamamessiah.blogspot.com/>.
Kurtzman, Daniel. "Bill O'Reilly Quotes - Stupid Quotes by Bill O'Reilly - About.com." Political Humor - Jokes Satire and Political Cartoons - About.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2010. <http://politicalhumor.about.com
"Obama devil picture." ,. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2010. <observers.france24.com/files/images/obama-demon2t.jpg>.
"Obama the devil." Vote Obama for Devil. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2010. <http://www.obamathedevil.com
"The Invisible Primary-- Invisible No Longer: A First Look at Coverage of the 2008 Presidential Campaign". Harvard: Project for Excellence in Journalism. April 25, 2010 <http://www.hks.harvard.edu/presspol/publications/reports/invisible_primary_invisible_no_longer.pdf>.